Freedom to Teach

How to smooth the transition from KS3 to GCSE Maths

How to smooth the transition from KS3 to GCSE Maths

By Ian Davies A few years ago we wrote this blog on how to smooth the transition from Year 6 to 7 maths. It’s never easy for students to move from Year 6 to Year...

4 min

Raising student attainment for Foundation GCSE maths students. Seven strategies that work and why.

Raising student attainment for Foundation GCSE maths students. Seven strategies that work and why.

by Anne Stothers How can we help our Foundation students achieve higher grades at GCSE?  During my 30 years of teaching secondary maths this has been a question discussed at departmental meetings and schools I have worked at....

6 min

Thinking sociologically about the General Election

Thinking sociologically about the General Election

Dr Jennifer Hardes Dvorak explores how you can use the upcoming General Election to enhance your students’ knowledge in some core areas of the sociology curriculum around questions of social class, gender and ethnicity, and provide an...

8 min

Restoring the Ottomans: Bridging the gap in the History Curriculum

Restoring the Ottomans: Bridging the gap in the History Curriculum

Laura Aitken-Burt discusses how the Ottoman empire is often ignored in the history curriculum, to the detriment of a wider understanding of European and global history in the Early Modern period as well as modern Twentieth Century politics.

6 min

How I weaved my culture into my writing in ‘My Name is Miya’

How I weaved my culture into my writing in ‘My Name is Miya’

By Mio Debnam  I love stories, and I’ve been reading and writing them nearly all of my life, but although I’m...

4 min

Improving student writing for Extended Response Questions in AQA GCSE Science

The last twelve months or so have affected many people in many different ways. Apart from the appalling death toll and the long-term effects on the health of many others, the control measures put in place have changed the way...

5 min

Exploring the rich world of the Maya, Aztec and Inca in KS3 History

Exploring the rich world of the Maya, Aztec and Inca in KS3 History

Laura Aitken-Burt explores the fascinating societies of the Maya, Aztec and Inca and how you can integrate teaching this exciting topic into your KS3 teaching. The Americas have been home to a vast array of indigenous civilisations...

5 min

The Sociological Imagination: Promise or Problem?

The Sociological Imagination: Promise or Problem?

Dr Sarah Cant explores why there has never been a more important time to study sociology and how you can integrate contemporary studies into your A level teaching.

4 min

Practical approaches to teaching KS3 Shakespeare

Practical approaches to teaching KS3 Shakespeare

Reframing or reimagining how we tackle Shakespeare in schools begins with our perception of it being boring, irrelevant or too difficult, especially if we teach in schools with high numbers of SEND, EAL or FSM. It is,...

4 min

Developing practical skills in your curriculum

Developing practical skills in your curriculum

By Amanda Clegg and Karen Collins Did your students struggle to answer practical based questions in the recent GCSE and A level examinations? How many of us have been in a practical lesson where a student has...

6 min

Celebrating Travelling communities in “Parade of the Pipers”

Celebrating Travelling communities in “Parade of the Pipers”

Growing up, I developed a fondness for the story of the pied piper. I was captivated by the narrative of an outsider who used their extraordinary talents to address a town’s dilemma. This tale resonated deeply with me, as...

2 min

The Long Shadow of Suffocating Injustice

The Long Shadow of Suffocating Injustice

As the third anniversary of the murder of George Floyd arrives this week, thoughts will turn to how to use his story in assemblies and lessons about racial justice and the role of the police. Fundamentally, we need to...

9 min